Means for crushing or compacting disposable objects and refuse

ABSTRACT

ROLLERS TO BE JOURNALLED IN A FRAME AND EMPLOYED TO COMPACT, CRUSH, OR OTHERWISE TREAT DISPOSABLE MATERIAL, SUCH AS METAL CONTAINERS, BOTTLES, OTHER FRANGIBLE OBJECTS AND REFUSE. THE ROLLERS ARE RADIALLY AND CIRCUMFERENTIALLY YIELDABLE RELATIVE TO THEIR SHAFTS AND ENGAGE THE OBJECTS AS THE LATTER PASS BETWEEN THE ROLLERS.

Oct. 26, 1971 H. J. QUALHEIM 3,614,821

MEANS FOR CRUSHING OR COMPACTING DISPOSABLE OBJECTS AND REFUSE OriginalFiled April 22, 1968 INVENTOI? HA Row J. QUALHE/M 3,614,821 MEANS FORCRUSH-TING OR COMPACTING DISPOSABILE OBJECTS AND REFUSE Harold .l.Qualheirn, 641 Tower Circle, Racine, Wis. 53403 Original applicationApr. 22, 1968, 8er. No. 722,898, now Patent No. 3,504,621, dated Apr. 7,1970. Divided and this application Dec. 8, 1969, Ser. No. 883,159 lint.Cl. 821i. 27/00 11.8. C1. 29-121 3 (Ilaims ABEiTlRACT OF THE DISCLOSURERollers to be joumalled in a frame and employed to compact, crush, orotherwise treat disposable material, such as metal containers, bottles,other frangible objects and refuse. The rollers are radially andcircumferentially yieldable relative to their shafts and engage theobjects as the latter pass between the rollers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the invention This applicationis a division of application Ser. No. 722,898 filed Apr. 22, 1968, nowPat. No. 3,504,621 which issued Apr. 7, 1970 and relates to resilientrollers employed to compact or crush objects such as containers,bottles, and other disposable refuse.

(2) Description of the prior art The prior art comprises the followingpatents: Groat, 382,973; Smith, 1,384,103; Grupe, 2,374,194; Cornell,2,414,855; Coute et al. 3,066,600; Adee et al., 3,085,384.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An accumulation of empty metal containers,glass bottles, fiber cartons, and disposable refuse in general ofvarious materials, often occupies space that is needed for otherpurposes, so the compacting and disposal of such material is desirable.It is an object, therefore, of this invention to provide a means tocompact, crush, or otherwise treat such materials that it occupies aminimum of space for subsequent disposal.

Another object of this invention is to provide rollers that willpositively engage the disposable material and advance it through thecompacting cycle.

Another object is to provide rollers that are resilient, so that theymay yield radially as well as circumferentially in order to absorbvibration during the compacting or crushing cycle, thereby reducingnoise, vibration and bearing wear.

The rollers of this invention are especially effective when employed asthe final rollers in a disposer comprising a series of rollers thatsuccessively engage the objects as the latter advance through thecompacting or crushing cycle: Such a disposer is disclosed inapplication Ser. No. 722,898, filed Apr. 22, 1968.

Referring to the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of a disposer frameshowing the rollers of this invention, with a container in the processof being compacted, and shown in dotted lines.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary section taken at 22 of FIG. 1, and showing acontainer in dotted lines, in the process of passing between the rollersduring the final step of the compacting operation.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of one of the rollers of FIG. 1,with a portion broken away to show the resilient core.

A typical disposer embracing this invention comprises a frame havingside plates 12 and 14. End plates 16 3,814,821 Patented Oct. 26, 1971 as20, thus defining a downwardly-converging passageway 22.

Rollers 24 and 26 are identical so only one need be described in detail.Each of rollers 24 and 26 is provided with a shaft 28 which isjournalled in suitable bearings 30 mounted in side plates 12 and 14,with the axes of shafts 28 mutually parallel.

Gears 32 are secured to shafts 28, and are mutually meshed together soshafts 28 will rotate in the directions indicated by arrows 34 of FIG.2. The means to rotate the shafts 28 engages one of the gears 32, isconventional, and need not be further described.

Each of rollers 24 and 26 comprises a drum 36 concentric with the axisof shaft 28. The circumferential space between shaft 28 and the innersurface of drum 36 is filled with a resilient yieldable material 38,such as rubber or other suitable material. The material 38 is bondedintegrally to shaft 28 and to the inner surface of drum 36: Thus shaft28 and drum 36 are resiliently secured together, permitting the drum 36to yield radially and circumferentially, to a limited degree withrespect to shaft 28. A means of providing additional resiliencycomprises providing longitudinal passageways 40 in the resilientmaterial 38. These passageways are positioned circumferentially aboutshaft 28 and spaced radially from the axis of the shaft.

A plurality of axially-extending longitudinal radial projections or ribs42, preferably eight in this instance, are circumferentially spacedabout the outer surface of drum 36, and are welded or otherwise. securedto the drum. Ribs 42 extend radially and are of a radial length in thisinstance to permit those of each roller to circumferentially overlap theribs of the other roller, as shown in FIG. 2. The free terminal edges 44of ribs 42 extend uninterruptedly, and are sharp in order to assure apositive grip on the object as the latter passes between the rollers.The metal container indicated as C of FIGS. 1 and 2 will be deformed tothe approximate shape shown as it passes between the rollers 24 and 26,and then because of resiliency, will assume a somewhat substantiallyflatcondition upon leaving the rolllers. When glass objects pass between therollers, the former will obviously be shattered in small pieces.

It is believed that the resilient rollers of this invention are novel inthat the circumferential and radial forces being imparted to the rollersduring the compacting of a container or the crushing of a glass bottle,are effectively absorbed by the resilient material supporting the shaft28 relative to the drum 36; the result being a reduction in noise andvibration with a consequent reduction in bearing wear.

It is within the purview of this invention to employ these rollers forother and similar purposes when suitable, and singly when they can be soemployed.

The above being a complete description of an illustrative embodiment ofthe invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured byLetters Patent of the United States is:

1. A roller for use in treating disposable objects and refuse,comprising a shaft, a drum coaxial with said shaft and defining aperipheral space surrounding said shaft, radial support for said drumwith respect to said shaft comprising resilient materiall filling saidperipheral space and bonded to said shaft and to said drum, andperipherally-spaced longitudinal, radial projections on the outersurface of said drum and integral therewith, each of said projectionsbeing of rectangular cross section and having uninterrupted longitudinalterminal edges.

2. A roller as set forth in claim 1, in which the resilient material hasprovided therein axially-directed passage- 3 Ways spaced peripherallyabout said shaft and radial y 2,374,194 4/1945 Grupe 2913O X outwardlyfrom sald Shaft 2,414,855 1/1947 Cornell 241-459 X 3. A roller as setforth in claim 1, in which each of said longitudinal terminal edges aresubstantially BILLY WIVLHITE Primary Examiner sharp. 5

References Cited I US, Cl, XQR. UNITED STATES PATENTS 29130, 132

1,232,053 7/1917 Lawrence 29-130X 1,928,763 10/1933 Rosenberg 29-130 U X10

